Wisdom Circle - Rising Above

Another amazing 'gift' of a Wisdom Circle, is its ability to help the group 'rise above' the challenges of life in the 'fast lane' that we live in and experience the Sabbath or 'rest' of quiet contemplation and peace.
As our Circle begins each week, we release the tensions and frustrations of day to day life and allow ourselves to transition into a whole different space.
It is so good for the soul to have this space of calm...a space to step away and reflect and wonder and just BREATHE...

So often the pace of life takes over...we find ourselves running, flying, soaring from one appointment to another, hardly appreciating the interactions we have.
We move so quickly, the true miracle of the moment escapes us.
The Wisdom Circle reminds us of the importance of shifting our activity into in-activity.
The Circle provides a container of peace amidst the storm.

Over the last several weeks, our group has shared some very difficult life situations that they have been going through.
Some are in the process of standing alongside loved-ones that are having life-threatening surgery.
Others are making long trips to the bedsides of those that are in hospice and in the process of transition through death.
Others are making huge shifts in their work lives and are embarking on new careers.
Whatever the current life distraction, the Wisdom Circle offers repose.
It is a gift of solitude for the weary traveler and can serve to revitalize, renew, remind and recreate within us a sanctuary of serenity.
This interlude helps to rekindle our passion for why we are here and our purpose for being.

Wisdom Circle - Getting a Different Perspective

Because our Wisdom Circle has been meeting together for such a long time, we have created a 'sense of family' within the group.
This has allowed the opportunity for deep sharing and openness that wasn't there when we first began.
This openness allows for great truth-telling among the members and tremendous sharing of wisdom.
The trust level is so deep, there is a willingness to open to receiving feedback about areas of our lives that may not be working as well as we would like.
It gives each individual the opportunity to get a different perspective and a different view of where we are currently standing.
This different view can provide a new look at an old challenge.
It can give us a snapshot of what is working and what is not from a new vantage point.
It can provide us with what we 'look' like from the point of view of another.

This new 'view' can truly help give us a larger sense of what is going on... what is trying to happen.
This other perspective, if shared in love, can be healing and affirming.
This other perspective, if received in love, can be healing and affirming.

Because we live in a 'relationship-oriented' world, feedback from others can give us valuable information.
It must be balanced though, with what we know to be true within ourselves.
Trusting our inner Spirit to teach us to discern, truth vs. fiction is a lifelong process.
As we grow in Spirit and in truth, we come to 'see' and 'feel' and 'sense' in ways that reflect a deeper 'knowing' of the way things really are.
It becomes easier to see, feel and sense in a deeper way, allowing the peripheral 'stuff' to float away and out of the equation.

How blessed we are to be guided by our Creator to come to know ourselves and others as Divine creations continually opening to larger 'versions' of who we are.
Thank goodness the Creator has a view that includes those aspects of ourselves that are still hidden from us.
Thank goodness the Creator covers our imperfections with Love, Forgiveness, and a huge helping of Grace.
What a wonderful world is ours...

Wisdom Circle - Microcosm for the World

Within the Circle are gifts for healing the world, for learning to live in harmony with one another and with the Earth.
By taking the experiences from the Circle into the world, we give voice to those values.
We give space to the wisdom of each individual and to the beauty of each unique experience in life.
By learning to trust within the Circle, we can ‘bridge’ that trust and integrity into all our relationships.
We can heal the world.

The Wisdom Circle is a perfect place to experience the values that we wish to bring into the world.
By creating a space rich with these values, principles, and the way we wish the world to be, we develop a microcosm of what we can then bring to the rest of our existence.
When we take the time to create an environment within the Circle that is full of love, light, wonder, wisdom, joy, the experience is so rich that we can't help but be inspired to bring that same experience to others and to the world.
T

Wisdom Circle - Go For It!

Consciously taking a step that departs from the 'norm' can feel like a leap of great magnitude.
It can feel like a total departure from your usual way of being in the world.
Often, it creates anticipation that may include fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of suffering, fear of loss and grief.
For a moment, that fear can be consuming.
It can well up inside oneself and get really large.
And then the moment comes when you ask yourself, 'do I really want to continue to live in this fear, or do I really want to shift into BLISS?'
As you change your 'mind', you change your reaction, and you change the reaction that bounces back to you.
You shift from deeper and deeper fear, into 'wow, this is awesome and it feels great'.

The function of a Wisdom Circle is to help each member release and surrender the 'I'm so scared' and help them move freely into the 'wow, this is wonderful'.
Each time the 'wow' is experienced, it becomes easier to get there the next time.
Each time fear is released, it becomes easier to get there the next time as well.
Soon, the cliff doesn't seem so steep and high.
Soon, the drop off doesn't even feel like a threat.
Soon, other options for a happy landing seem extremely likely and probable.
Soon, Bliss seems like a daily occurrence.
Soon, the entire group is sharing experiences of successes and joys.
Soon, the Wisdom Circle is a place to bring your ideas and your heart's desires so the group can energize them and 'hold space' for their fulfillment.
Soon, visioning a better existence is commonplace and fear has no place.
Soon, the precipice evokes the energy of opportunity and mystery and life's potentialities.
Soon, everyone is leaping...
What a world that will be...
WOW...

Wisdom Circle - Supporting Each Other on Our Paths

Every person's path is so very different.
No two are the same.
One of the functions of a Wisdom Circle is to support the growth and soul development of each member.
Through the experience of being in a spiritually focused group, often a person's chosen pathway becomes more clear.
The individual may have an opportunity to 'dance' with more of who she or he is.
There is an opportunity to explore aspects of oneself that tend to get pushed into the closet in normal everyday life.
The Circle 'holds space' for our becoming...that is, our becoming more of who we already are.
The Circle serves as a container to support the opening of aspects of ourselves that lie deeper below the surface.
Sometimes it is fear that has buried these 'gems' of who we are.
Sometimes it is our 'busyness'.
Sometimes it is our confusion.
But whatever it is, the Circle is a natural place for its fuller expression.

The way a Circle can support each person's path to unfold further is by creating a space and a time for each person to present those items that are held dear to their hearts.
When an individual chooses to 'go public' with that which is on their heart, a wonderful energy is created which further supports their heart's desire in manifesting.
The Universe says, YES!!!, and synchronicities are created that support the individual's soul development.
There is an incredible response by Spirit to the creative impulse within the individual and magic happens.
Opportunities are created, jobs are identified, resources are manifested...

The Creator loves us to respond to co-create...
The Creator is ready to send an abundance of angels to support us as we move forward and take a leap of faith.
The Creator always 'makes up' for whatever shortcomings we have...there is no 'short - fall'.
We are caught up in the wings of angels as we move forward in confidence that the support of heaven is ours.

As each of us take the next step on our path and choose to move closer to who we truly are as soul, the world changes.
The world heals as we heal...slowly or quickly, depending on how we choose to respond.
Is it worth taking the risk and dancing with a bit more mystery in order to help heal the world and ourselves?
Now is a great time to embrace your own path...live the best life you can dream...

Wisdom Circle - Renewal

One of the most powerful experiences in a Wisdom Circle is the experience of renewal of Spirit that is created when like-minded souls come together.
When our group first started, we had all sorts of wonderful agendas and focus areas of study.
We still do.
But what continues to be one of the most important functions of the Circle is re-newal.
When we come together, we share our stories from the week.
We share 'what has been learning us'.
We pray and meditate together and in sharing our 'energies' we help to uplift each other's energy, vitality, strength, courage and focus.
This experience in the Circle has often been the one that goes unnoticed until a member is absent.
Then we hear reports of 'wow, I missed the Circle...I noticed my energy just wasn't what it has been'...and 'I surely was more tired this week since I missed the group'.

The power of the form of the Circle shape is truly amazing in that it creates this flow of support.
Within this circular form, there are no interruptions or barriers to the natural flow of energy.
There are no corners, no angles, no dead spaces to block the movement of vitality.
The end result is that this energy moves freely around the Circle filling everyone's cup.
This experience creates a sense of renewal and refreshment and re-fueling.
Each member experiences release of those energies that no longer serve them and replacement with new energies that reenergize their entire cellular makeup.

By simply showing up to the Circle, the blessing of Spirit is made available to all.
By simply showing up, we are offered the 'cup' of life force by our Creator.
By simply showing up, we open the door to our souls and create a space for feasting at the Table of God.
By simply showing up, we acknowledge our Source.
By simply showing up, we receive and are blessed.

Wisdom Circle - Music of the Soul

This past Friday night, our Wisdom Circle was led by my husband, Stephen.
He is a lover of music.
Music, for him, is a powerful force that unlocks the joy, peace, hope in his heart.
Stephen created a program that focused on the favorite song of each of the members of our Circle.
He created a CD of everyone's songs and then played them for us one by one.
Before and after each song played, the person in the group who had chosen that song, shared a story about the meaning of the song in their lives.
We were all taken back to that place in our own lives when we first heard the song, whether we were in high school, college, or at other times.
Memories came forward, and each of us healed a part of ourselves that was waiting to be released and surrendered.
For some, it was a long standing hurt or betrayal.
For others, it was a missed opportunity.
For others, it was a chance to remember a joy that was experienced to a depth
beyond measure.
Each individual was able to participate in the experience of the music and create
their own healing.
So, although, within a Circle there are individual experiences, the group as a whole heals together as well.

Music has a magic of penetrating our walls and our inner fortresses.
Music moves in places with ease whereas words in normal conversation cannot seem to access.
The river of Music has a flow to it that overtime can wear down even the largest
boulder in its path.
Where once a damn was built over many years of pain and suffering, slowly but surely, the gentle flow of music finds its way through.
It's truly amazing how this happens without any notice, any fanfare, any announcement.
Music heals the core within as it catches us unaware and unguarded.
There are things that we allow ourselves to feel through music that we shut down in other discussion or conversation.

The power of music to heal has been written about for centuries.
In Europe in the 19th century, patients were diagnosed as being 'out of tune' and were prescribed specific songs and melodies to reestablish their rhythm and health.

Here is a little excerpt from my son's research paper on Music Therapy in Behavioral Health:

Specific musical pieces or musical dances were prescribed for patients based on their
symptoms of disease. It was thought that the role of the physician and nurse was to tune the patient through the use of the healing power of the music(MacKinnon, 2007). Specific plans were created for each patient including movement and music that would help their hallucinations, or other maladies.

MacKinnon (2007) also goes on to state that there was a belief that music was inherent in our bodies. Our bodies naturally make many sounds and health is often defined by the presence or absence of these sounds. Historical techniques with music were focused on trying to reestablish the natural music and movement of the body. The diagnoses were made for insanity by listening to the sounds that the patient made as well as those sounds that the patient heard as in hallucinations. Then the music therapy treatment plan was organized in an effort to normalize these sounds.

MacKinnon (2007) describes that in the late 1800’s some of the asylums had positions for Music Directors. They were responsible for providing the music for the weekly asylum dances. The director would be assigned the responsibility of writing pieces that were suitable for the patients that were housed there at the time. Each of the mental disorders that patients had were considered to be “arrhythmias” (Mackinnon, 2007, p.18). The Director wrote music to treat the arrhythmia and reestablish the patient’s natural rhythm and internal harmony.

In Australia, the focus was a bit different. MacKinnon details the use of sacred songs and hymns that would be sung by patients individually or in groups to bring them back to harmony. It was believed that there was a direct link between the body, the soul and music. Creating spiritual harmony was thought to be part of the treatment plan for music therapy.

Horden (2000) describes the use of music in asylums in Baden, Germany in the late 19^th This was a model treatment center for psychiatric illness and it advertised that it utilized music and singing as part of its treatment plan. The belief was that the soul has a rhythmic quality and the best way to effect and treat its problems is by musical means. Both staff and patients collaborated together with music therapy in an effort to create an environment that was healthy for all. Horden (2000) also describes other accounts of music therapy use in Britain in the early 20^th century when professional musicians were brought into hospitals to play but were carefully concealed behind screens. They were trying to incorporate the healing sounds without the distraction of watching a performance.

For all of recorded history, music has been used to heal.

Many believe it heals the essence of our souls...the essence of who we truly are.

Many believe it is the language of the soul...and that's why it can be used to communicate when nothing else works.

Open to the beauty of the unique music that is you and allow the sounds and the rhythm of the universe to heal this Spirit within.